


The Drawer Labeled Gender

by yashkonu



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gender Dysphoria, Other, Self-Harm, Trans Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-08
Packaged: 2018-04-30 16:20:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5170397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yashkonu/pseuds/yashkonu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A place for the more Gendery things, to keep them separate from the general miscellany.</p><p>These are unlikely to be connected or cohesive at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**(heads up for dysphoria talk and self-harm)**   


She seldom opened her mouth, but a simple smile on her lips wove poetry that shortened Raven’s breath.

Loose cloth, snow-white and flowing freely, often concealed her face, but just a glimpse of the mischief and mirth that so often filled her eyes was enough to double up Taiyang’s heartbeat.

She was nearly a mystery, but not quite, because she never _wanted_ to be a mystery. She’d answer anything they asked, signing to Raven or writing to Taiyang, and she was always, always honest. Her silence was a defense against the sound of her own voice, the cloak a bulwark against the sight of her own body, her too-flat chest and too-narrow hips. She’d tell them anything they cared to know, anything they asked. The trouble was in the asking, because simply standing too close to her made breath a precious commodity.

And they knew of their shared affections, and they commiserated, until commiseration grew to become something more.

One day, Summer disappeared.

They found her, eventually, huddled in the bathroom of her apartment. Raven’s gentle touch eased the razor from her hand, while Taiyang’s soft words eased the shuddering sobs that wracked her small frame.

 _Summer_ , Raven signed, _what’s wrong? We’re worried._

 _You love each other_ , came the reply from shaking hands, _and I think you both love me_

_but I don’t love myself, and sometimes I want to die, and it scares me_

And Raven held her, and when she translated to Taiyang he held her too, and they murmured in her ears the words she’d never tell herself.

They told her of her beauty, of her strength and her wisdom, of the color of her eyes and the fall of her hair. They told her of the way her smile stole their breath away, of the way their hearts beat harder just knowing she was near. They poured into her the love they held, and as it filled her heart she held them, too. They stayed together, then, and let two and two and two add up to three.


	2. Chapter 2

“… Then, while I’ve got her distracted, you can slip in the window and grab my binder.”

“Blake, her office is on the fifth floor. I can probably make the climb, but what if I get spotted on the way up? Or I get up there and the window’s locked? Or hell, what if she _turns around?”_

“Then… then…” Blake’s head dropped into their hands. “Shit, I don’t know. I just… I need to get it back but I don’t want to- I can’t-”

Emerald rubbed gentle patterns into Blake’s back, pulled them close to her side. “I get it, babe. I don’t blame you for not wanting to come out just yet. Coming out as trans was tough enough for me, and I don’t have the whole… faunus, thing, aspect of it. How’re you holding up?”

“It… hasn’t been great.” To say the least. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang – the only people besides their girlfriend Blake had trusted enough to come out to – had been kind enough to refrain from commenting on the towels covering the bathroom mirror, the quiet cries at night. “I was fine until a couple days ago, but now… I really need to get that back, Emmy. I thought about borrowing some bandages to bind with yesterday.”

“Shit, Blake, you could crack a rib like that! I know I got a bit… _creative_ with my improvised tucking for a while, but… do as I say not as I do, okay?”

Blake ran their hands down their face with a heavy sigh. “I know, I know, I just… I’m sick of the dysphoria. I have to do _something_.”

A timid rapping sounded at the door, and Emerald excused herself to answer it. Lie Ren stood there, holding an opaque plastic bag bundled tight and looking somewhat sheepish.

“Ren? What’s up?”

“I recognize that it may not be my place to pry, but I noticed this in the lost and found while I was fetching one of Nora’s shirts.” Now _there_ was a story she’d have to hear. Ren passed the bag over as furtively as possible, glancing up and down the empty hall as he did so. “It was simple enough to convince Professor Goodwitch that it was mine; the hard part was convincing her that I’d lost something. I seem to have built up a reputation. Give Blake my regards.”

With that, he retreated to his own dorm. A _sparkling_ conversationalist, that one. She let the door swing shut, checking the bag’s contents as she walked back to her partner.

Emerald grinned.

“Hey Blake, looks like we got out-thieved.”


	3. Chapter 3

_Ahem._

Three pairs of eyes turned to face the source of the noise. Weiss – because who else would clear their throat to get their own team’s attention, _honestly_ – sat rigid on her bunk, staring at the hands balled in fists on her lap. Once she was certain all eyes were on her, she spoke up in hesitant tones.

“I… have something to tell you all.”

“It’s okay, Weiss, we already know you’re a huge pain in the a-”

“ _Hush, Yang_. Now then,” and here her voice shifted into that of someone reading a script, burned into memory but recited without feeling, “If any of you take issue with what I am about to tell you, that is well within your rights. If you no longer wish to be associated with me, that is understandable and I will hold no ill will towards you as a result.”

Blake’s face was curiously devoid of expression, though they nodded understandingly at her recital.

“Uh, okay? So what is it, Weiss?” Ruby had even deigned to set down her current project. Well, at least she was taking things seriously.

“I am… what is commonly referred to as ‘transgender.’ What this means is tha-”

“Oh, nice! Same here.” Ruby grinned at her over the back of her desk chair.

“I… what?”

Blake raised a hand. “Same here, but I’m sure you knew that already. Pronouns and all that.”

“Wait… is _anyone_ on this team cis?” All eyes turned to Yang.

“Ehhhh?” Yang wiggled a hand noncommittally. “Eh.”

Blake lowered their book “Is that your answer or your gender?”

“Can it be both?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Cool, then it’s both.”

Ruby turned back to Weiss, holding up her hands with a shrug. “Guess not! Them’s the breaks, Weissy.”


End file.
